Masks
by stealth gato
Summary: Sasuke always had a mask. But Naruto was real. bad summary i know Sasu/Naru. sentence metion of Sasu/Saku WARNING: boy/boy, strong language. rated m for language. no lemon, sorry kiddies


**Disclaimer:** I don't own naruto  
**Warning:** boy/boy love and language. (no lemon)

Okay, so this was a short story i wrote a longe time ago when i was bored. I was rereading it recently and decided it could work as a sasunaru. i'm really just sticking it up here for the hell of it while i'm writing my other sasunaru smut fic. anyway, since this was originally a short story it has nothing to to with the naruto universe and the characters are kind of ooc, sorry. but i hope you kind of enjoy it maybe.

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Masks

It was always an act. An intricate web of lies fabricated to give the illusion of control and sanity while underneath was chaos and confusion. But no one knew what lay just beneath the surface of the seemingly perfect exterior. Day by day the same act, perfected over the years so that no one would ever guess it was just a farce.

If anyone was asked about Sasuke they would have described him easily as 'the good kid' 'the jock' 'the genius' 'the popular guy' or just flat out 'perfect.' He was everything everyone wanted to be. He was rich, popular, he was great at sports he was attractive and was very smart. He was dating the most beautiful girl in the high school and had many other girls fawning over him just incase it didn't work out. He was also best friends with the other most attractive and popular boy in school, Naruto. He had the 'perfect life'. Not even his best friend knew about what really went on in Sasuke's head.

"What are you thinking about?" Naruto asked looking at his best friend. Sasuke was zoned out again for at least the fifth time that day. It was lunch and the two boys were sitting at their regular table outside under the giant oak tree. It was the prime spot, overlooking the courtyard where the rest of the lunch tables were but just far away enough so that the teachers couldn't see them. Sasuke blinked slightly and looked at his friend.

"Nothing, don't worry about it." Sasuke smiled at him. Naruto sighed but didn't press any further, Sasuke wouldn't have told him the truth anyway. "Hey, you going to eat that?" Sasuke asked pointing at the half of a sandwich sitting on the table next to Naruto. Naruto shook his head and handed it to Sasuke. Sasuke ate the sandwich while Naruto sat there watching all of the other students. They were the only two who ever sat at the table mostly because Naruto scared everyone off. Even though he was popular, he didn't like many people. Naruto use to be the class clown because he wanted to be popular but then realized most of the 'cool' kids were just your friend for their own benefit. Naruto quickly stopped being as social as he once was.

Sasuke was social enough, but was very quiet. He barely talked to anyone unless the addressed him first, then he was good company to keep because he always had something interesting to say. Naruto realized Sasuke was probably the only honest 'cool' kid at the school and stayed friends with him. He, of course, didn't realize Sasuke's honesty was really just a lie put up to keep everyone happy. But their friendship was probably the most real thing about Sasuke. Sasuke didn't have to put up an act of being friends with Naruto like he did with all his other friends. It wasn't that he despised others, he just didn't like them very much. Sasuke looked over at Naruto.

"Something wrong?" Sasuke asked. Naruto looked slightly shocked. It wasn't the first time Sasuke had spoken without being spoken to first, but it was still rare for him to speak first. It was even more rare for Sasuke to inquire about anyone's mood.

"Why can't you talk to me?" Naruto asked. Sasuke sighed.

"Don't start this again, Naruto. It was nothing, don't worry about it." Sasuke smiled unconvincingly. Naruto narrowed his eyes.

"Sasuke, we've been best friends for five years. You barely talk to me as it is, but when you keep zoning out like that I know that something is wrong. Why can't you tell me?" Naruto asked. Again, this was not the first time they had had this conversation, Sasuke never told anything.

"I got to take a piss." Sasuke said standing up and walking away before Naruto could stop him. Naruto frowned knowing Sasuke would have ended the conversation that way. He always just walked away. It was expected, but still hurt. Naruto knew to some degree that Sasuke faked some of the time, or at least had a pretty strong guess. He knew Sasuke lied when he said it was nothing and that's what bothered him. Not because he lied, but because it was almost enough to convince him it was nothing. Sasuke was a good liar so it made him wonder if there were other things that Sasuke lied about. Lunch was over before Sasuke got back. Of course, Naruto knew he was probably hiding to avoid talking to him about it.

"Naruto, where is Sasuke?" Shino, one of the boys they hung out with asked.

"Don't know." Naruto said and just kept walking. He was upset that Sasuke was avoiding him. They were supposed to be best friends and Sasuke was avoiding him. He growled lowly in his throat as he sat down at his desk.

"Something wrong?" Sasuke asked sweetly as he sat down next to him. Naruto didn't say anything. Sasuke sighed and opened his book. "Fine, don't talk to me."

"Doesn't feel good, huh?" Naruto said softly. Sasuke heard it, but pretended he didn't. The lesson had started anyway, so Sasuke wouldn't have been able to say anything if he wanted to. After that class Naruto told Sasuke he was mad at him and then walked away. Naruto didn't talk to Sasuke the rest of the day. Sasuke didn't act like it bothered him. He just talked to his other friends saying that Naruto needed some time alone.

In all actuality, Sasuke didn't know how to feel about Naruto not talking to him. He was upset that Naruto wasn't talking to him. He thought Naruto was being very immature. But he would never show it. It wouldn't fit in the act. The mask wouldn't allow feelings like that to be shown. He just smiled and shrugged, it was as close as he could get. At the end of school Sasuke stood by his car waiting for Naruto to come. They always rode together, Naruto didn't have a car. After fifteen minutes Sasuke pulled out his cell phone and called Naruto.

"What?" Naruto growled into the phone but his voice was very soft.

"I know you need a ride." Sasuke said.

"I got detention." Naruto said.

"I can wait." Sasuke said.

"Fine. I'll meet you at four." Naruto said and hung up. Sasuke looked at his watch and saw he still had forty minutes. He should go get Naruto coffee; that was something a best friend would do. The mask would allow the one real thing in his life to show through: he genuinely cared about Naruto. Sasuke got into his car and drove to the nearest coffee shop and got two iced coffees and then headed back to the school. He saw Naruto standing in the parking lot looking very angry.

"You though I left you?" Sasuke asked as Naruto got into the car.

"Yeah." Naruto said somewhat ashamed that he actually thought that.

"Sorry, took me longer at the coffee shop than I thought it would." Sasuke said handing Naruto his drink. Naruto looked a little shocked.

"Thanks, you didn't have to." Naruto said.

"I wanted to." Sasuke said and started driving.

"Do you want to stay over tonight?" Naruto asked as they got closer to Naruto's house. Sasuke stiffened slightly. If he stayed over he wouldn't be able to avoid Naruto's questions. But he knew Naruto's parents weren't there and Naruto hated staying home alone. Sasuke mentally sighed, he couldn't really let Naruto know he didn't want to, that would be out of character.

"Yeah, sure." Sasuke said. Naruto smiled, relieved.

"Okay, cool." Naruto said. Sasuke parked in the driveway and they went inside the house. They went to Naruto's room and laid on the bed. "Do you want to make something to eat or order something to eat?" Naruto asked.

"I'll make something." Sasuke said sitting up. Naruto said nothing as Sasuke walked out of the room. Naruto listened to Sasuke cooking just down the hall from his room. He loved when Sasuke cooked. Sasuke was an excellent cook. Cooking was another thing that Sasuke actually liked doing and was allowed to do even with his mask. But it also might have been because he never cooked for anyone but himself or Naruto. And cooking for Naruto was just another way of showing how much he cared about him.

"You need any help?" Naruto asked coming up behind Sasuke and leaning on the counter next to him. Sasuke shook his head. They were quiet for a second or two. "So, are you going to tell me what was bothering you today?" Naruto asked.

"No." Sasuke said plainly. Naruto huffed and sat down at the kitchen table. Sasuke finished cooking and roughly put a plate on the table in front of Naruto. Naruto started eating and Sasuke walked off. It was then that Naruto realized Sasuke hadn't made himself a plate. In face, Sasuke had only made enough for Naruto to eat.

"Sasuke?" Naruto called.

"I'm not hungry. I'm just going to go to sleep." Sasuke called from Naruto's room.

"Sasuke, it's not even dark outside." Naruto said. Sasuke didn't answer. Naruto had a feeling that Sasuke didn't want to be there and was just there to make him happy. "If you don't want to be here, you can just go home." Naruto said.

"I want to be here. I'm just not feeling too good." Sasuke called back to him. Naruto sighed and quickly finished eating. He went into his room to find Sasuke laying on his bed. Naruto closed his curtains to make the room dark and pulled off his shirt and slacks before crawling into the bed next to Sasuke. Sasuke was already asleep, but even in his sleep he moved to curl against Naruto, seeking his warmth. Naruto wrapped his arm around Sasuke and held him against his side. Sasuke was a bit smaller than Naruto, but Naruto could feel Sasuke was smaller than he usually was. It worried Naruto a little. Sasuke hadn't eaten much at lunch either.

"Sasuke." Naruto said softly. Sasuke stirred slightly and looked up at him with sleepy eyes as he yawned.

"Hmm?" He hummed sleepily.

"When was the last time you ate?" Naruto asked.

"I don't know." Sasuke answered closing his eyes again. Naruto stiffened slightly.

"What?" Naruto asked. "Sasuke, you need to eat."

"Just haven't been hungry recently." Sasuke shrugged and yawned.

"Sasuke," Naruto sighed.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about it." Sasuke told him before falling back asleep.

"Sasuke." Naruto sighed worriedly. Sasuke was asleep so couldn't respond. Naruto felt his heart clench painfully. Something was bothering Sasuke so much that he wasn't eating? Something was definitely wrong. Naruto sighed, he knew it probably wasn't right to be in love with his best friend but he was. That's why it was so difficult to see Sasuke this way. He sighed again and ran his fingers through Sasuke's hair. After an hour of just laying there he had to get up. He went to his kitchen and started making some food. As he was finishing cooking Sasuke came into the kitchen.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke yawned.

"Making you something to eat." Naruto said. Sasuke shook his head.

"I told you I'm not hungry." Sasuke said.

"For me, please?" Naruto said holding up a plate of food. Sasuke sighed and sat down at the table and Naruto put the plate down in front of him. Sasuke started eating and Naruto sat down next to him. "Sasuke, why haven't you been eating?"

"I haven't been feeling well." Sasuke answered plainly.

"Sasuke you never get sick, so I know something is bothering you." Naruto said. Sasuke shook his head.

"I'm fine, Naruto. Just not feeling well." Sasuke smiled at him. Naruto frowned and looked at Sasuke. Sasuke finished eating and looked up at Naruto. "What?"

"You're being an asshole, you know that?" Naruto asked.

"What do you want me to say, Naruto?" Sasuke asked.

"I want you to tell me what is wrong." Naruto said.

"I don't know, Naruto. Okay? I just am not feeling well." Sasuke said softly but firmly. Naruto growled softly.

"Whatever. I'm going to watch a movie. Do whatever you want." Naruto said. Sasuke sat at the table until Naruto came and took him to bed. They laid down and both were quickly asleep. Sasuke wasn't much better the next day either. He told Naruto that it was because he didn't have enough sleep. Naruto didn't believe him.

"I'm just going to lay down for a while." Sasuke said and went to Naruto's room. After half an hour Naruto went to go check on him.

"Sasuke?" Naruto asked softly. Sasuke didn't answer, Naruto knew he was completely passes out and nothing would wake him up. Naruto sighed. There really wasn't anything to do in his house so he just went and laid down next to Sasuke. "Why don't you talk to me?" Naruto asked knowing Sasuke wouldn't have answered even if he was awake. Naruto stared at his best friend. Sasuke recently looked worn and worried when he was awake, but as he was sleeping he was calm and beautiful. Naruto couldn't help himself, he reached out and touched Sasuke's lips just to see if the were as soft as they looked. They were even softer. Naruto leaned forward slowly and brushed his lips against Sasuke's. He knew Sasuke wouldn't wake up but still was slightly nervous that he might. Naruto pressed his lips against Sasuke's keeping an eye on him just incase he woke up. Naruto knew he needed to stop, molesting your best friend while he slept was probably not a good idea, but he couldn't. He licked Sasuke's lips slightly and quickly pulled back. Sasuke's mouth opened more and Naruto could see his tongue. Naruto wanted to be able to taste Sasuke's tongue but knew for sure that sticking his tongue in Sasuke's mouth would wake him up. He touched Sasuke's lips again but Sasuke's lips closed around his finger and licked it. Naruto gasped and pulled his finger quickly out of Sasuke's mouth. "Sasuke?" Naruto asked. Sasuke didn't answer. Naruto sighed with relief and then looked at his finger. "I'm pathetic." Naruto said before sucking on the finger that had been in Sasuke's mouth. Naruto didn't know when he fell asleep but he woke up a few hours later.

"Naruto?" Sasuke asked looking at him.

"You're awake." Naruto said rubbing his eyes.

"When did you get in here?" Sasuke asked.

"I don't know. A couple of hours ago." Naruto yawned.

"Oh." Sasuke nodded and rested against him. Naruto sighed and got up. "Naruto?"

"I'm going to go get something to eat." Naruto said and walked away.

"Naruto? Is something wrong?" Sasuke asked getting up and following him.

"Nothing that you should be concerned about." Naruto mumbled. Sasuke frowned. He knew Naruto was using his own words against him. But Naruto was the one who shared his feelings, not Sasuke.

"Naruto." Sasuke said warningly.

"Don't worry about it Sasuke, seriously. I'm fine just have a headache I'll be fine after I eat." Naruto said. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Naruto but didn't say anything.

"What do you want to eat?" Sasuke asked.

"Oh, um, whatever you want to eat would be fine." Naruto said knowing Sasuke was going to cook. But he wanted to make sure Sasuke also ate.

"I'm not very hungry." Sasuke said.

"You should eat, Sasuke." Naruto said. Sasuke shook his head.

"I'll make you something and then I have to leave." Sasuke said. Naruto frowned. Sasuke fixed something quickly and handed it to Naruto before leaving. When Naruto went to school on Monday everyone stared at him.

"What's going on?" Naruto asked Gaara as he walked up to the group of people who normally hung out with him and Sasuke.

"Sasuke freaked." Gaara said.

"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked.

"Did you see when he punched Kiba?" a girl asked her friend as they walked by.

"Sasuke punched Kiba?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah." Gaara said.

"Kiba said something to him and he snapped and punched him." Shikamaru said.

"What did he say?" Naruto asked.

"Something about Sasuke's bitchy attitude." Gaara answered.

"Oh." Naruto nodded.

"Do you know what happened?" Shikamaru asked.

"How would I know I just got here. I had to ask you guys." Naruto said.

"You're his best friend. Was he acting weird this weekend?" Gaara asked. Naruto shrugged. Sure Sasuke had been acting a little strange, but so had he. Maybe they were stressed at school. It was the end of their senior year. Naruto sighed.

"I don't know." Naruto said. "Maybe he's just stressed."

"Maybe." Shikamaru said. A few seconds later Sakura, Sasuke's girlfriend, came running towards them crying.

"Sakura?" Sam asked.

"What happened?" Naruto asked.

"The bastard dumped me." Sakura growled at him.

"What?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah. He just said we're over I don't want to be with you anymore." Sakura said bitterly. Everyone looked shocked.

"Are you serious?" Shikamaru asked. It wasn't uncommon knowledge that Sasuke and Sakura had the 'perfect' relationship. They rarely fought, went to all sorts of cool places, had great sex and were the best looking male and female of the entire school. People envied them. It was somewhat shocking that Sasuke would end a relationship that everyone in the world dreamed of. Naruto walked off. He went into the bathroom and went to the sinks. He turned the water on and splashed some on his face. Coming to school to find out your best friend decked his second best friend and then broke up with his girlfriend wasn't the greatest experience. About that time Kiba came in.

"Oh hey Kiba." Naruto said.

"See what your bastard of a best friend did to me?" Kiba snarled at him. Naruto looked at the black eye.

"He's just stressed." Naruto said. "He hasn't really been himself lately."

"That's bullshit, Naruto. He's always been a bastard." Kiba growled.

"Fuck you, Kiba. You don't know what the fuck you're talking about." Naruto snapped at him. Kiba growled.

"Fuck you, Naruto. He's the one who punched me." Kiba said.

"You provoked him." Naruto snapped at him.

"Why the hell are you defending him?" Kiba asked.

"Because he's my best friend. So fuck you." Naruto growled at him. Naruto walked out of the bathroom. Kiba growled and left. When the door shut Sasuke stepped out of the stall and washed his hands. He felt good that Naruto stuck up for him of course he would never let Naruto know that. Sasuke went to his first class. Everyone glared at him when he walked in. Sasuke sat down next to Naruto and put his head down on the desk. Naruto looked at Sasuke with concern.

"I don't want to talk about it right now." Sasuke told him.

"But we will talk about it?" Naruto asked.

"Later." Sasuke answered. Later didn't come for three more years. Sasuke and Naruto had gone to college together. They had made some new and better friends. Naruto actually liked these people more than the friends he tolerated back in high school. But it was still always Naruto and Sasuke. One day Sasuke was talking with their 'friends' when one of them said something and Sasuke snapped even worse than he had in high school. He didn't just punch the guy he started pummeling the poor boy. Finally five guys, including Naruto, pulled Sasuke off of him.

"What the fuck was that?" One of their friends asked.

"Fuck you." Sasuke said.

"Hey! Don't you fucking dare walk away from me!" The guy yelled as a few of the other guys started helping their beaten friend.

"Just leave him alone." Naruto said.

"Fuck you Naruto! He just beat Neji up!" One of the guys yelled.

"Fuck you! Neji shouldn't have said it." Naruto growled at him. Naruto ran off to find Sasuke.

"Why do you always stick up for me?" Sasuke asked when Naruto found him on a bench. Naruto sighed and sat down on the bench.

"Because you're my best friend." Naruto said. Of course he wasn't going to mention that he was also in love with him. "So, are you going to tell me now?"

"What?" Sasuke asked.

"Well, last time you beat someone up for no good reason you said you told me later." Naruto said. Sasuke shook his head and stood up.

"Later." Sasuke said.

"When exactly will be later, Sasuke?" Naruto asked standing up as well.

"I just don't want to talk about it, Naruto." Sasuke told him.

"Of course. Because you never want to talk about it, Sasuke." Naruto growled. Sasuke started walking. "Why can't you just tell me something?" Naruto asked.

"What do you want me to say, Naruto?" Sasuke snapped at him. He stopped and turned to glare at Naruto. "You want me to tell you I'm so fucking stressed out trying to be this perfect person that everyone thinks I am that I'm slowly losing my mind because of it? You want me to tell you that I try so hard to keep up this mask but sometimes it cracks and all that frustration built up leaks out onto the closest person? Maybe I can put it more poetically by saying that I'm crumbling under the pressure to maintain the façade of perfection that everyone expects of me. But that's just a nice way of saying I'm going crazy and I don't want to keep faking the rest of my life." Sasuke growled at him.

"Faking?" Naruto asked softly.

"My whole life I've just been acting to be perfect. I pretend to be the perfect son, perfect brother, perfect student, perfect friend, perfect person. I'm so sick of it and I can't keep it up anymore." Sasuke said angrily.

"So, it was all fake?" Naruto asked softly.

"You were the only real thing in my life, Naruto." Sasuke said seeing the hurt on his best friend's face.

"I'd like to say that too." Naruto said stepping away from him. "But I don't even know who you are at all now."

"I'm the same person, Naruto. You always thought I was hiding stuff." Sasuke said.

"But now I know you are. If you were really my best friend, you would have told me." Naruto said angrily.

"I'm sorry Naruto." Sasuke said.

"Fuck you, Sasuke. You never told me anything, ever. You have no idea how much I worried over you all the time cause you just wouldn't tell me anything. Now you drop this shit on me and expect me to just be okay with it?" Naruto yelled at him.

"What do you expect, Naruto? I couldn't just come out and say I hate my parents because of all the expectations they threw on me. I'm so jealous of my brother because he never had the pressure to be the best like I did. I practically cheated through grade school and high school. I was only friends with half of the people I was friends with for appearance sake. And I'm in love with my best friend! I can't just let everyone know all of that shit." Sasuke told him. "God damn it, Naruto! Why are you always so concerned about me? Why do you even care? Why do you always make me want to confess and tell you everything? Why are you," Sasuke couldn't finish his last question because Naruto grabbed him and kissed him. Sasuke was shocked for practically half a second before he grabbed Naruto and kissed him back.

"Sasuke, I'm in love with you." Naruto said against Sasuke's lips.

"What?" Sasuke asked.

"Have been for a long time." Naruto said.

"How long?" Sasuke asked.

"Since freshman year in high school." Naruto said. Sasuke frowned and stepped back form Naruto slightly.

"What?" Sasuke asked.

"Something wrong?" Naruto asked.

"Why didn't you say something sooner?" Sasuke asked.

"Why didn't you?" Naruto asked with a smirk. Sasuke knew that Naruto was just as afraid of confessing as he was. Sasuke moved forward and kissed Naruto again hard. Naruto moaned into the kiss. Sasuke moved down to Naruto's neck and Naruto wrapped his arms around Sasuke's neck. They could hear people talking and shouting at them and a few catcalls, but none of it mattered. Sasuke might have been faking everything in his life before this, but this was real. This was the first pure and good real thing that Sasuke had and he planned on keeping it forever. THE END.

Sorry if it sucked but yeah like i said before this was kind of just thrown up here for the hell of it. reviwe anyway please.


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